Large-scale online events

The pandemic has had a colossal impact on the learning experience worldwide. In this conference, we hear teachers and CoP leaders from Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman. Tunisia, Egypt and Iraq shed light on the constraints and the opportunities of remote teaching; the skills required to be an effective teacher in the virtual environment; the biggest challenges faced by learners in engaging successfully with the virtual environment.  

We look at Ideas for online tools; e-learning during lockdown; social media for professional learning.

We discuss why communities of practice are important for teachers and what makes a successful community of practice.  

And we take a look at future perspectives by examining what we have learnt during the pandemic and how can we help learners make up for lost time; by discussing     the key considerations in blending F2F learning with online learning successfully; and by asking what the future holds for learning English at school.

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Peer-to-peer collaboration is an effective way for teachers to learn professionally. During this interactive forum we hear from a range of countries from across the region about how teachers are coming together to develop professionally, through the Teacher Networking Initiative:

• How did the community of practice start and develop over time?
• What kinds of activities are the teachers working in communities of practice involved in? What kind of platforms are being used?
• What do teachers think about their community of practice?
• What do CoP leaders do?
• What do the CoP leaders think about their community of practice?

We also hear an interview with Simon Borg to gather perspectives on CoPs from beyond the region, collated from his recent global research report: Professional development through Teacher Activity Groups

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One year on from the beginning of the pandemic and as schools in some countries reopen, we’re taking the opportunity to discuss how we can build on our experience of remote learning over the past year. We’re asking two questions: 

What does the research say about how effective remote learning for teachers is? We take a detailed look at Dr Steve Mann’s report on the impact and effectiveness of remote learning for teachers and teacher educators in MENA: Understanding the Effectiveness of Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers Delivered Remotely through an interview with the author and through responses to his research insights from teachers from Bahrain, Lebanon, and Yemen.

How practically can we support teachers who have limited or no internet connection? We listen to and discuss thoughts and examples from teachers and colleagues from the Yemen, Sudan and Iraq.

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One of the key talking points in our professional lives is motivation. Our own motivation; how to keep our learners motivated; how to motivate parents to get more involved in the education of their children.

With this in mind, and to mark World Teachers’ Day, the British Council is organising an online event that brings together teachers, learners and parents to suggest and discuss some practical steps that we can take to generate, increase and sustain motivation.

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